SpaceX plans $100 billion Louisiana launch site for Starship PHOTO / VIDEO

SpaceX has unveiled plans to build a $100 billion spaceport in Louisiana that could eventually support more than 30 Starship launches a day, potentially making it the world’s largest launch site, CNN reports.

Construction of the facility, to be known as “Starbase, Louisiana”, is expected to begin by the end of 2027 near the southern coast of Vermilion Parish, with the first launch targeted for as early as 2029, according to an economic development website.

The project would mark a major expansion of SpaceX’s Starship operations and make Louisiana a significant new centre for orbital launches. The state has never previously hosted an orbital launch.

“Starbase Louisiana will ultimately have over a dozen launch towers, enabling more than 30 Starship flights per day and making it the biggest launch site on Earth!” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on Tuesday.

SpaceX chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell described the proposed facility as “a self-sustaining spaceport with its own propellant production, power generation, deep water shipping capabilities, vehicle processing facilities, and probably an airport.”

The company plans to use the Louisiana site for operational Starship flights once the rocket has demonstrated that it can safely carry cargo into orbit. SpaceX also intends to recover and rapidly reuse the rocket’s components, including its upper stage, which has not yet been successfully landed and flown again.

The proposed site would cover 125,000 acres, with Shotwell saying that “very large portions” of the land would remain “untouched, so that high-value wetlands stay habitat and don’t become infrastructure.”

“We will help fund protection, restoration, and stewardship while we build,” Shotwell said.

The plans face significant regulatory hurdles, including environmental, wetlands, natural resource and launch-related reviews. Similar reviews for SpaceX’s facilities in Texas took nearly a decade.

Starship remains under development, and the company is expected to conduct another major test flight as soon as September. Further testing will be required before the rocket can begin regular operational missions.

SpaceX currently conducts Starship testing and development at Starbase in South Texas and has said it may begin Starship flights from Florida as soon as this year. The company also plans to continue launching Starship from Texas.

The Louisiana project comes as SpaceX signals a shift towards Starship for future missions. The company has said it has begun phasing out its Falcon 9 rockets for some missions, while SpaceX vice president of launch Kiko Dontchev said on Tuesday that a Falcon 9 launch from Florida carrying Starlink satellites would be the last of its kind.

“From here on, Starlink missions out of Florida will fly on Starship,” Dontchev said.

If realised, the Louisiana facility would become by far the largest base of operations for Starship and could significantly expand SpaceX’s capacity to launch the vehicle.

By Aghakazim Guliyev